Pestana Equador

Hotel

Beautiful place, and lovely people. The service can and should improve to bem similar to other places. Leve — leve is the local motto and they follow it 24/7.

The island is luxurious and wild with quite and friendly people and nice beaches, geysers, turtles and Marco de Ecuador. However, the hotel is run down and badly managed. The food is horrible and monotonous: my partner got food poisoning and bacterial infection requiring antibiotics treatment. The pool had algae in it. The spa is really just a place to get a message by an unqualified local lady. The dive center is horribly expensive, has old equipment and no Instructor on site. Staff is not helpful — particularly if you do not speak Portuguese. This is not a 4* resort. It is worth going for the island but no more than 2-3 nights. We stayed 9 nights — we left early.

Great location and friendly staff. Well maintained. Breakfast is great but dinner selection could be better. Internet is available in the lobby for free but not in all rooms.

The site is spectacular, the truth but the cleanliness leaves a lot to be desired.

Good place for relaxation. Long trip to go there. Interesting is the point where the equador meets the 0 meridian.

There were so many mixed reviews that I was apprehensive. But wow — this place blew away expectations. Even with slight language barriers (most people spoke french, spanish, and of course Portuguese with a few people, especially at reception, speaking some English) they made us feel at home. They taught us some Portuguese and we spent most days lounging by the pool or beach in utter relaxation. A french speaking security guard helped us met a kid from the village who spoke English and took us around for the day and had us eat near his famiy's house. We also got to know Erickson and Ivanason with the help of Google translate and their customer service was superb. As someone who only speaks English and German (with a sprinkle of Spanish) this was a great experience. I would recommend this place to my mother for a solo trip. In fact, a few ladies were solo here and were well taken care of.

Pros: Nice staff. Great natural location. Spacious room. Great and large poll. Beautiful beaches. Guided trips to the island. Cons: Food was good, but room for improvement. Tap water shortage available with scheduled.

It's priced as a 5* hotel and wouldn't even deserve a 3* rating. Buffet: is very limited and food tasteless; even non alcoholic drinks are not included in full board; Room: is old and simple, no noise isolation at all, no light to read at night (after 6pm), wardrobe doors are cramped, minibar empty, no phone, slippers or bathrobe; Wi-Fi works but slowly … Bathroom: is unbelievable and needs urgent reform: shower is ridiculously small and not clean as it's gotten dark on the edges with time, tap is like 30years old and about to crack, shower doors don't close so bathroom gets like a lake after each shower, celling is dark due to humidity, only very basic toiletries provided (shampoo and shower gel from dispenser). I even had to go to the reception (no phone in the room) and ask for a bath rug. General areas: walkways and garden with very poor maintenance, swimming pool is nice just because it's beach front (although the beach is rocky and you can't really swim, just a dive near the shore) ; spa is way overpriced when compared to spas in other 4* hotels in São Tomé. The areas just (and I literally mean just) behind the hotel are filthy, with tons of garbage; Staff is nice in general however in my opinion they can get a bit annoying by pressing you with excursions and stuff; transfers to the island… there's only 2 boat transfers per day, if the time of your arrival is off, they will just make you wait… and that can be hours!

Great location but the staff/service is pretty bad, especially getting to and from the island. I've traveled through lots of places, including many parts of Africa and this place really disappointed. The trip to the island is actually unsafe, with overloaded boats and broken safety equipment.

Nice place to see but don't believe all the hype and pictures you see on the Internet. If you're a swimmer you'll love it.

We will be going there in a few weeks, from Feb 26th to March 02nd. So far, the reviews are quite positives and I hope we will have a nice experience as well. I'll certainly update this review after our staying. I'm going with my wife and we normally provide in deep reviews from the exotic places we like to visit.

We wanted to visit the restaurant but as non-guests you should wait until the lunch is over. So we only enjoyed one beer for each €3. The grounds are idyllic and clean, with a huge pool. The view is good.

Splendid location. We stayed 3 nights. The diving center Costa Norte is a big deal. Quality. Free kayaking. Bicycle rental however at 7, 50 € an hour. A walk along the island takes two hours. Dishes are fine. But afterwards I noticed I hadn't had a single banana in the resort. Bananas make my holiday! Outside the resort on the main island and on Príncipe I was overwhelmed by the different species, all of them tastier and juicier tha the ones at home. The vast swimming pool is a real attraction, the water is salty. But less than the neighbouring sea. Water bottles are overpriced. 3€ for one. It's maybe not a bad idea to go to the local shop and buy them at half the price. In the same village we had lunch, 25 euro for two. The plate consisted of fresh tuna fish and bread fruit chips. No vegetables, one drink and papaya as a desert. The resort is great for people who are into salty water adventures. But I noticed lots of families with only one or two enthusiast members, and the others bored to death. ;-) No problem with late check out, as the afternoon boat leaves only at 4.30 pm. Breakfast lacks fresh dark bread and I didn't like the buns neither.